Events…and the Executive's fate
Last week, Peter Robinson announced the Executive's economic proposals and judging by the faces of the MLAs at Stormont life could not have been better. However, as Harold Mc Millan once remarked 'events, dear boy, events' have the ability to destabilise any situation and the grisly killing of Paul Quinn is such an event.
The killing has been described as ‘barbaric and sinful’ by the local priest in Cullyhanna, words that bear a close resemblance to the comments of Coroner John Leckey and State Pathologist Jack Crane on the killing of Eamon Collins in Newry in 1999. It is widely accepted that Collins was killed by the Provisional IRA and the comments of the Coroner came at the same time as Paul Quinn was being laid to rest. The first unspoken political reaction to the killing of Paul Quinn was a suspicion that the killing bore all the hallmarks not just of the murder of Eamon Collins but also the killing of Robert McCartney.
Paul Quinn was known to have had run-ins with local republicans and his parents have blamed the Provisional IRA for his death. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams denied the claims, insisting it was linked to fuel smuggling in the area but Garda sources believe that the killers were IRA members. All of which poses uncomfortable questions for the continued existence of the Executive. There are presently little signs that the Executive is about to collapse but this story is just beginning to run, fuelled by the widespread belief in south Armagh that members of the Provisional IRA were involved in the death. The matter was raised by Jeffrey Donaldson in the House of Commons last week in a clear indication that he is not prepared to ignore the potential political consequences of the killing.
The First Minister, Ian Paisley has warned that if the murder proved to be the work of the Provisional IRA then “very serious consequences” would flow. His initial reaction was that there should be no rush to judgment and that people should wait for the findings of the police in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. By contrast, Sinn Fein appears to have been too quick to state that republicans had no involvement in the killing. History is littered with initial denials of any involvement in certain atrocities only for it to later emerge that the opposite was the case. The McCartney case is still fresh in the public mind as a reminder that Sinn Fein is still regarded by many, including the family of Robert McCartney, as not having done enough to bring his killers to justice. After decades of violence, the simple point is that republican statements still lack credibility with a wide section of both communities. The only way for clarity to emerge will be in the arrest, and conviction of those who carried out this atrocity.
The worst case scenario would be evidence or intelligence that the killing of Paul Quinn as sanctioned even by the local Provo leadership. This would definitely bring the Executive down or at least lead to DUP calls for Sinn Fein to be booted out of office. It is unlikely that there will be any such evidence or intelligence. The next worst political scenario would be proven involvement of members of former members of the Provisional IRA in the killing. This is the theory most widely spoken in the locality and is unofficially confirmed by the Gardai. At present, it looks as if the DUP could accept such a story without bringing down the Executive but such a position would create further division within the party.
For the leaderships of both Sinn Fein and the DUP there should be the frightening prospect that they have cosied up to each other so much and so quickly, that their Stormont camaraderie and sharing of the spoils of office has made them oblivious to grassroots opinion.
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Weather for Derry
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
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